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Official Game Thread: Hawks - Mavericks

lethalweapon3

By lethalweapon3
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lethalweapon3

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The Dallas Mavericks look to be the latest NBA squad to lasso the Atlanta Hawks at the Highlight Factory (7:30 PM Eastern, SportSouth, Fox Sports Southwest). The Hawks last dropped three straight games at Philips Arena in February 2012.

While the Houston Rockets, absent leading scorer James Harden and eventually second-leading passer (to Harden) Jeremy Lin, were moving the ball like clockwork and tightening up their team defense as the game wore on in Wednesday’s 113-84 thrashing of the Hawks, Coach Mike Budenholzer’s team continued to play like a bunch of players sporting “Hi! My Name Is” stickers.

Houston’s 36-17 final quarter bookended their 30-11 start to the game. This followed Atlanta dropping a second-half at home to Orlando by 60-39, and collapsing at home to Boston in the game before by 30-13 in the fourth quarter. In Atlanta’s season opener, a 118-109 Dallas victory, the Mavs hung 30-plus points on the Hawks in three of four quarters.

Dirk Nowitzki is back to 20-plus PPG scoring, and leading the league with 94.0% free throw shooting. With the solid start to the season for Dallas, the whispers of Dirk being trade-bait with his expiring $22.7 million salary have quieted.

Nowitzki’s bolstered by the offensive spark provided by Monta Ellis, who has reformed his shooting stroke and now shoots more sensibly, volume-wise, from mid-range and at the corner-three spots.

More than half (55%) of Ellis’ shots are now taken in the paint, up from 44% last year with the Milwaukee Bucks. Ellis arrives in Atlanta after his first “Old Monta” shooting effort, just 2-for-16 on Wednesday versus another former team, Golden State, but he offset his 4 point night with a sound passing performance (10 assists, 3 turnovers) to upend the Warriors.

Ellis is leaving the perimeter jacking to the far more efficient Jose Calderon (47.1 3FG%). That percentage is up from the 46.1% that led the NBA last season. Calderon’s presence in the offense allows the other Mavs, particularly Ellis, to play to their personal strengths.

Having dropped three straight, Atlanta (8-8) can still seek to seize back the mantle of That Other Eastern Conference Team with a Winning Record. Their offensive futility on Wednesday night allowed Houston to slip below Dallas among teams with the worst per-game defense, the Mavs’ opponents scoring 103.4 per game (3rd most in NBA). The Mavericks (10-6) are giving up a whopping 51.0 FG% on two-pointers, including 66.5 FG% in the restricted area (2nd highest in NBA). Kyle Korver (ribs) isn’t available tonight, but spreading the floor won’t be a big priority.

A notorious sieve on the defensive end, Calderon was replaced in the closing minutes of a close game with Golden State by rookie (and Hawks draftee) Shane Larkin (7 points, 6 assists vs. the Warriors). The 5’11” guard missed the season-opener against the Hawks while rehabbing a broken ankle, but is quickly building confidence under Head Coach Rick Carlisle. Keep an eye out for any matchups between Larkin and Atlanta's Dennis Schröder (6 points, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, 2 steals versus Houston).

They’re relying heavily on Samuel Dalembert to patrol the paint (1.6 blocks per game), and Shawn Marion in emergencies. Savannah native Bernard James has been disappointingly sluggish and reduced to short stints. DeJuan Blair has been a rebounding machine (career-high 12.7 rebounds per game in 36 minutes; 20.4 rebounds per 100 possessions, 4th in NBA), and has been picking off passes (4.3 steals per 100 possessions, 3rd in NBA), but fouls way too much (6.2 personal fouls per 36 minutes) to remain on the floor for terribly long. Dirk has upped his steals output to 1.2 SPG, but the Mavs can’t afford for him to run into foul trouble.

Meanwhile, when Ellis is on the floor, opponents score an NBA-leading 15.1 PPG on fast breaks (Jose Calderon and Marion tied for 4th most in NBA, at 13.9 PPG) and 35.4 PPG in the paint.

Jeff Teague’s star shone dimly in the Lone Star State, going 0-for-5 for just 4 points (all free throws) against the Rockets. Yet he, Lou Williams, and even Shelvin Mack (returning tonight after spraining an ankle vs. Orlando) should be driving for scores and dribble-drive passing plays at every rational opportunity. Teague and Ellis are tied for third among NBA point guards with 5.3 fouls drawn per game. Whichever player is more effective drawing trips to the foul line will create an advantage for their respective teams.

The Hawks can’t speak much about other teams’ defensive effectiveness. From 5-9 foot range, Hawk opponents are now shooting at 48.3 FG%, and no other NBA team is leaking from that range at anything near 45%. Atlanta’s also the only NBA team giving up more than 40% from 25 feet out. Look for post-up games from Nowitzki (61.5 FG% from 5-9 feet), Blair (51.4% at that range) and even Vince Carter to try and soften up the Hawks’ interior D. Calderon will join Nowitzki and Carter in taking advantage of any open long-range jumpers.

With two teams’ defensive engines leaking oil, tonight’s final score may end up looking like the outcome of a battle between mediocre bowlers.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

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